




Favorite Piqua Ware 12A Cast Iron Skillet 13.25 Smooth Light Pre-Wagner Sidney. Before mass production got heavy, rough, and frankly a little lazy-pans like this were made with precision, pride, and a kind of finesse you feel the second you pick it up.
This Favorite Piqua Ware No. 12A is one of those rare survivors: big, beautifully balanced, and finished to a silky smooth cooking surface that modern pans simply don't touch. If you've never cooked on a Piqua.
Favorite Stove & Range Co. Operated out of Piqua, Ohio and produced some of the finest cast iron in America from the late 1800s until the company was acquired by Wagner Manufacturing in 1935.
This is peak refinement: thinner walls, lighter weight, and extremely fine casting compared to earlier, chunkier iron. These were designed to compete directly with the best of Griswold and Wagner -and many collectors will tell you they succeeded. Why This Pan Is Special. Size 12 (13.25 wide) - Big cooking surface without the usual boat-anchor weight. Only 6.4 lbs - noticeably lighter than most modern 12 pans. "12 A" marking - pattern/mold designation used by the foundry.Exceptionally thin sidewalls - about the thickness of a nickel that's. Silky smooth interior - factory-machined cooking surface, not the rough modern texture.
Heat performance - heats faster, more evenly, and responds better than thick modern iron. This is the kind of pan that makes you understand why people get obsessed with vintage cast iron.
Surface: Smooth, seasoned, and ready to cook. Flatness: No spin; only the faintest tick (corrected with a single sheet of paper; a business card would be too thick). Casting quality: Extremely fine, clean, and even throughout. That also happens to be collector-worthy. What It's Like to Cook On.
If you're coming from modern Lodge-type iron, here's the honest difference. Food releases easier (that smooth surface matters more than people think).
It feels more responsive-less "thermal lag". You don't feel like you're lifting gym equipment every time you flip something. It's the difference between a cast iron pan. You can spend years chasing pans like this-or you can just start with one that already checks every box. This isn't just cookware.
It's a piece of American manufacturing from a time when "good enough" wasn't good enough. And once you cook on it.
Your other pans are going to start feeling a little insecure. Its also considered an antique at this point (100 years old) - which is great news for all you international folks, since for most locations that makes its duty free.